


Whatever Happens, Happens

by NeoVenus22



Category: X-Men Evolution
Genre: F/M, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2009-12-26
Updated: 2009-12-26
Packaged: 2017-10-05 07:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoVenus22/pseuds/NeoVenus22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A sudden friendship between Rogue and Scott. An act of betrayal by Jean. Now the other X-Men are forced to choose sides in a love triangle that affects their best friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What Jean Heard

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: First season spoilers.

Jean Grey was starving. She'd managed to scarf half of an English muffin before leaving for school that morning, but she'd had to make up a missed chemistry lab during lunch, and had soccer practice after school, so she was dying of hunger by the time she made it back to the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters.

Whoever said that these were the best years of your life, clearly wasn't one of the X-Men. As if soccer, basketball, softball, advanced classes, and just the general struggle to graduate high school weren't enough, Jean also had to deal with the pressures of being a mutant. Which meant saving the world that hated her x-gene-bearing guts, and trying desperately to keep the whole thing secret. Jean was completely exhausted, and of course, starved.

The kitchen was empty, save for one lone coffee cup in the dishwasher that indicated Professor Xavier had been in earlier. Jean fixed herself a sandwich and ate it, not minding the complete silence that was settling. She thought about doing a quick psi-scan, to see where everyone was, but she knew there was no danger, or else they would have contacted her. In fact, she was quite enjoying these few moments alone.

As a senior, and as having been an X-Man longer than most, Jean was looked up to as some sort of authority figure. Her friends at school always asked her for sports, homework, or guy advice. Her friends here asked for training help in the Danger Room, even though Jean wasn't the best. She didn't have athletic prowess like Rogue, or a fierce come-and-get-it attitude like Spyke. She was good in a pinch, especially in creating psi-shields and levitating a teammate out of danger, but she didn't have the capability for leadership that Cyclops had, and was worried that they saw her as second-in-command, when she wasn't sure that she could handle that.

Between everyone asking for help, and her inherent nature to not turn someone down, Jean felt like she was being pulled in a million directions lately. It was so hard to help people and not get any credit for it, it was hard knowing that if she did, she could just as easily be looked upon as the villain in the situation, even if she was the hero.

Jean finished her sandwich and put the plate in the dishwasher, then headed for her room. She was walking past the library, when she heard Scott say, "And basically, I told him he had the personality and intellect of a gym sock, so I really wasn't threatened by him in the slightest."

Scott was answered by a pealing laugh that Jean didn't recognize. Did Scott have a girl over to the mansion? Had he okayed it with the Professor? And who could it be? Not Taryn, thank God. Taryn, Jean's former best friend, was driving Jean nuts with her very obvious crush on Scott, and it sickened her that Scott couldn't see through Taryn's phony act.

"Ya didn't!" a familiar voice said. Rogue. No _wonder_ she didn't recognize the laugh; Rogue never laughed.

Wait...since when did Scott and Rogue have the sort of jokey, laughing relationship?

Jean hovered by the doorway, not entirely obscured. Not that it mattered, because the library was big enough that you might not necessarily see someone standing in the doorway, if you were in the right position. Besides, she didn't know yet if she wanted to go in.

Rogue and Scott were sitting across from each other, in the big leather chairs in the corner, next to the huge picture window. There was a tray of cookies on the table between them. There was a large, leafy plant that blocked Jean from view from them, but if she was standing, allowed her to see them.

"Yeah, I did," Scott said with a grin.

Rogue was actually _smiling_. "An' what did he say?"

"He didn't say anything. Just gulped for air like a fish."

Rogue laughed again, and Jean thought she saw the Goth's eyes flick in her direction. Quickly she ducked back into the hall. "Wish Ah'd been able to see it," Rogue said. "So glad to see Duncan put in his place for once."

So they were talking about Duncan? Jean rolled her eyes in annoyance. That was so like Scott. Why couldn't those two idiots just get along? Was it so hard?

They weren't saying anything. Jean peeked around the corner; they were chewing on cookies. She decided she should go, she really had no business listening in on their conversation. It was like reading their minds without permission, and she already knew Rogue didn't like her.

But as she was starting to go away, she heard Rogue ask, "Scott, when ya dream...d'ya dream in colors, or just in red?"

Jean stopped dead in her tracks and edged closer to the door, propelled by some higher force. She shouldn't listen. It was wrong. This was a private conversation.

She didn't budge, however.

"Wow. No one's ever asked me that," Scott said, and Jean realized that even she, who'd known Scott the longest, had never asked him about his mutation. "Sometimes. Sometimes I dream in color. I mean, I know what colors are what, obviously, and I can distinguish them in my mind, you know? But a lot of the time, I dream in red."

"That mus' be awful," Rogue said sympathetically. One of them drummed their fingers on the table, Jean didn't dare look to see who, and then Rogue said, "Y'know, sometimes Ah think maybe we were destined t'meet."

"Oh, yeah?" Scott said, and to Jean's surprise, he didn't sound annoyed or bored, but actually interested. "How so?"

"It's like, ya understand me, y'know? Probably better than anyone else will. Like Kitty, she's only intangible when she wants ta be. An' Kurt, he's got his inducer, so he can be 'normal' with the push of a button. But me, Ah always gotta wear gloves. An' you always gotta wear shades. An' we may never be 'fixed'."

Jean felt her heart twisting. She hadn't thought about that. Hadn't thought about how hard it must be for the both of them. Yeah, Jean's mutation was hard, but it was a mental thing. She wasn't as much of a 'mutant' as, say, Kurt. She had a superior mind, but that wasn't the sort of thing you noticed right off the bat. If you didn't know her as personally as the X-Men did, you might never know that Jean was a telepath, a teke. And she could almost turn off her telepathy, not hear the thoughts around her. But Scott always saw in red.

She glanced in. Scott nodded, looking thoughtful. "I know what you mean."

The two of them stared at the tabletop for a long time, and finally Scott said, "Rogue? When you absorbed me..."

"Were ya in mah head?" Rogue finished.

He looked surprised that she had guessed that, but only for a second. And Jean felt a little surprised herself. They were sort of on the same wavelength, and she wasn't sure she liked that. "Yeah."

"Yeah, ya were. Still are, kinda."

"Is it hard? To deal with all those voices?"

Voices? Jean thought. Clearly they'd had some sort of conversation about this before.

"The Professor helps me sometimes, with controllin' 'em. Subduin' 'em, y'know? But they're always there. Ah can't turn 'em off. Ya know what Ah mean."

"It's hard, isn't it," Scott agreed. "To never be able to turn it off."

They offered weak but sincere smiles at each other, and commiserated together. Jean fell back into the hallway and leaned against the wall. She closed her eyes, lost in thought. The both of them always seemed so in control. Rogue didn't know that much about her powers, but she seemed like she had enough basic knowledge to operate. Scott usually seemed so together. He was a leader, and he acted like one, he naturally was like one, and it had never occurred to Jean that he wasn't perfectly okay with his mutation. Well, not so much okay as accepting.

Scott, and to some extent, Rogue, had never acted like they were particularly bothered, and so she had just assumed that they weren't bothered. Everyone else at the mansion was fairly comfortable with their powers, even Kurt, so...

"Can Ah help ya?"

Jean's eyes flew open, and she saw Rogue standing there, hands on hips, glaring at her.

"I, uh..." Jean said, then realized she didn't know what she could say. She was hanging out in front of the library, there was nothing else in the hall that she could have been busy with, and she'd been leaning against the wall. It was fairly obvious what was going on.

"What, didja think we wouldn't notice?" Rogue said. "Not that it comes as much of a surprise or nothin'. Gawd knows how many times you've been in mah mind uninvited."

"I—" Jean tried to defend herself.

"But Scott at least is your _friend_. Could extend him some kinda courtesy." Rogue shook her head, looking disgusted.

"Rogue, I wasn't—"

"Whatever," the younger girl said coldly, and stalked down the hallway.

Jean watched her go, and when she turned back, she saw Scott standing in the spot Rogue had vacated. "I'm not going to go as far as to accuse you of telepathy here," he said evenly. "I know you better than Rogue does, and I know you wouldn't do that. But eavesdropping is just as bad, Jean. It was a private conversation."

Well then maybe you shouldn't have left the door open, Jean thought angrily.

"I didn't think we had to worry about that sort of thing at the mansion," he answered coldly, and Jean realized that in her state of anger, she'd accidentally projected that thought. "Besides, most people would have realized it was a private conversation, and left."

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I feel awful."

She felt sort of bad to be playing to his softer side, knowing that with the right expression and tone, she could get him to forgive her. It was a mean trick, and he didn't deserve it, especially when she'd been in the wrong, but she didn't want Scott to be mad at her.

But Scott surprised her. "Yeah, you should be," he said, brushing past her.


	2. What Rogue Said

Rogue paced around her room angrily. She'd been having a nice, quiet little moment with Scott, and of _course_ perfect little Jean had to come and ruin it.

Then again, Jean Grey wasn't that perfect, after all. Whether she'd used telepathy or not, she'd still listened in on Rogue's and Scott's conversation, which was just a nasty thing to do.

Kitty phased through the ceiling and landed neatly on her bed, knocking a pillow to the ground. Rogue immediately kicked at the offending object. "Whoa, hey. Like, what did that pillow ever do to you?" Kitty said, scooping it off the floor.

"Where were ya?" Rogue asked, assuming that the pillow question was rhetorical. If it wasn't, then that said a lot of things about Kitty.

"Up in Kurt's room."

"Ooh-la-la," Rogue said, sitting down on her own bed.

Kitty threw the pillow at her. "Nothing like that! He was helping me with my math homework. Jean was supposed to help me half an hour ago, but she, like, disappeared."

"Oh, _Ah'll_ tell you _exactly_ where she was," Rogue said, feeling her anger resurface. Not that it had ever really left. "Me an' Scott were sittin' in the library, talkin'—"

"Ooh-la-la," Kitty returned with a wicked grin.

Rogue shot her a death glare and continued, "An' we go out to find Little Miss Perfect standin' in the hallway, _eavesdroppin'_ on us!"

"No way!" Kitty said. "Like, really? _Jean_?"

"Yeah," Rogue said darkly.

"I totally, like, don't believe it...that is _major_. What were you guys talking about?"

"_That_ is between me an' Scott," Rogue said. She frowned. "An' Jean."

"She was probably so jealous," Kitty said.

"Jealous? A' what? Me an' Scott?" Rogue said disbelievingly. She felt a tiny twinge of pride, that maybe Jean Grey considered Rogue a threat.

"Well, you know those two are all in love with each other and stuff," Kitty said, then her eyes widened and she clamped her hand over her mouth. "Ohmigosh," she squealed. "I'm so sorry."

"About what?" Rogue said, but she rolled over, so kitty wouldn't see Rogue's wounded expression.

"About what I said. I was just, like, babbling, you know? I mean, I don't think Scott is in _love_ with Jean, or anything..." she said weakly.

"He can be in love with whoever he wants," Rogue said. "Ah don't care."

"But you, like, like him, right?" Kitty said.

Rogue sat up and glanced at Kitty. "No," she lied, then got up and started towards the bathroom.

"C'mon Rogue, just admit that you do. It's not like I'll tell anyone or anything," Kitty said.

"Ah don't know why ya think ya know me," Rogue said.

She chanced a glance over her shoulder, and regretted doing so, because Kitty looked hurt. Rogue didn't really want to be vicious to her roommate, and the girl who was probably her closest friend, but she didn't really feel like going over the details of her non-relationship with Scott Summers.

Rogue sighed, cursing her conscience, and turned around. "Kit, Ah'm sorry. That was mean, an' you're only tryin' ta be mah friend." She couldn't believe she was apologizing.

"If you don't want to talk about Scott, that's totally okay," Kitty said. "I'm just letting you know, I'm here if you need me."

"Okay," Rogue said. "Thanks." Kitty glanced up at her, and the girls smiled at each other.

Rogue, however, hated those big Hallmark moments, and continued into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She didn't really have to pee or anything, but this was the one room she could hide out in where she knew Kitty wouldn't phase through the door unexpectedly.

This afternoon, she'd been about to start her walk home when she passed Scott's car in the parking lot. "Hey, Rogue, need a ride?" he'd called out to her, and she'd looked over to see him, Kurt, and Kitty standing around it.

Usually the others were content to let her walk home on her own, which she did every day without fail. She was happy to get a few moments alone. Sharing a room with Kitty, and most of her classes with either Kurt or Evan, Rogue got few moments alone, and embraced the ones she could. Besides, a lot of the time, Jean was riding in the car with them.

"Where's Jean?" she found herself saying, and Kitty answered that she had soccer practice and was getting a ride from Duncan later. Rogue pretended not to notice the way Scott frowned when Duncan Matthews was mentioned.

"Yeah, sure, why not," she said, and got in the passenger's seat, Jean's usual spot.

When they'd gotten home, they'd gone their separate ways, but Rogue and Scott had run into each other in the kitchen, and exchanged smiles when they both admitted they were here for cookies.

"How about we take these somewhere an' share 'em?" Rogue had suggested, and she was still surprised that she'd said that. "We can, Ah dunno, talk or somethin'."

She'd been even more surprised when he smiled at her. "Yeah, okay."

And that was how they had ended up in the library, eating cookies while Scott told her funny anecdotes. They had actually been bonding, when the subject had turned to their unfortunate mutations, and Rogue had felt closer to him in those moments than she'd felt to anyone ever, even Kurt and Kitty, who made efforts to include her, even Logan and the Professor, who tried to understand her, even Irene, who'd raised her.

But they'd run out of cookies, and Rogue had gotten up to go get more, when she'd come across Jean, not-quite-hiding in the hallway. She'd been listening in. She'd invaded Rogue's thoughts on more than one occasion (and always insisted it was an accident, though Rogue wasn't quite so sure), but this time was different. It wasn't just infuriation that Jean had been eavesdropping. It was that her presence, knowing she'd been there the entire time, had completely tarred the perfect afternoon that Rogue had been sharing with Scott.

Rogue grunted irritably, and flushed the empty toilet once for good measure. "Mah future with Scott, swirlin' water down the drain," she said, then shook her head sharply. "Ya just dress Goth, Rogue, ya don't gotta start writin' lame, angsty poems now," she chided herself. "What would Kitty say?"

She heard a faint knock outside, and cracked the bathroom door open slightly. She heard Kitty open the door. "Oh, _hey_, Scott," she said, loudly and pointedly. Rogue rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Kitty, is Rogue here?"

"Yeah, she's—"

Rogue went back into her room. "Kit, who's there?" she asked.

"Scott's looking for you," Kitty answered, with a sly wink.

"Oh, um, hey, Scott," Rogue said, blushing slightly, and then mentally kicking herself for doing so.

"Hey. Wanna take a walk?"

Maybe Rogue had fallen asleep when she'd come back to her room, and the past five, ten minutes (maybe even the whole afternoon) had just been a dream. Because Scott Summers had just asked her to take a walk.

Of course, a walk could mean anything. But the problem was, Rogue had no idea even what the possibilities even _were_. She found herself staring at him dumbly, then said flatly, "Yeah. Sure."

"Bye, guys," Kitty said cheerfully, and Rogue was too worried and nervous and confused to even remember to cast her roommate a death glare.


	3. What Scott Did

Scott and Rogue were walking around the mansion grounds, dusk settling over them gently. "This place is so huge," Rogue marveled softly, and Scott raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Rogue hadn't lived here as long as some of the others, himself included, and he imagined that a lot of aspects of the Institute were still quite new to her. It was sort of endearing.

They hadn't really said much in the fifteen minutes since they'd walked through the front doors. Scott didn't mind the silence much. He knew that Rogue wasn't a big talker, and she probably wasn't that comfortable with him yet. Then again, they'd had quite the conversation that afternoon. He'd said stuff to her that he'd never said to anyone, not even the Professor. So maybe the silence was just one of those comfortable silences between friends.

Scott knew he felt comfortable around Rogue. He always had. She'd been with the Brotherhood for awhile, yeah, but she never really seemed like she was _with_ them. Even when they'd been on opposite sides, though, she'd chatted almost amicably with Scott.

He liked Rogue. He didn't understand why more people didn't. Sure, the copious amounts of makeup and the gloves...but underneath her angry glares, she was a nice girl. She was smart, and funny, and thoughtful, only no one ever got close enough to really realize that. Nor did she ever let anyone get close enough. She was just scared.

Of course, why shouldn't she be?

"Rogue," he said, "about this afternoon...you know, Jean..."

"Listen, Scott, if ya wanna defend her, that's all well an' good for ya, but Ah don't wanna hear it. An' if ya brought me out here specifically to defend her, then Ah'm leavin'."

"No, no, I wasn't going to defend her," he assured her hastily. "I'm on your side, really. What she did was low."

Rogue stopped in her tracks and looked at him. "You're on mah side?" she said dubiously. "Ya think Jean was wrong?"

"Well...yeah."

For the briefest moment, it happened so fast Scott wasn't sure it had happened at all, but she smiled. "Thanks for that, Scott."

He smiled back at her, lost for words. Talking with Rogue was always a surprise. It was like she kept showing different sides of her personality to you, if you waited long enough.

They started walking again, through a small group of trees and into a clearing on a rise that allowed them an obscured view of the mansion, but guaranteed that no one would overhear them. They sat down on the ground, Rogue leaning against a tree and crossing her legs in front of her, while Scott assumed an Indian-style position. He wondered why he'd brought her out here, to this secluded spot, but really, it was no question. He liked talking with rogue. He liked how she truly seemed to understand him, especially things that he hadn't understood about himself. It was like they were kindred spirits.

"Are ya ever afraid?" she asked softly, gazing off into the distance.

"Of what?" he asked.

"Ah dunno. Of everythin', Ah guess. Afraid that we'll be discovered. Afraid that maybe the Professor's dream is just too hard, too impossible." She sighed. "Afraid that you're gonna end up hurtin' someone that ya care about."

"All the time," he said. "I spend almost every waking minute worrying that I'm going to be in a situation where I can't control my powers. I worry that that moment might come when I'm at school, or out at the mall, or the movies, or somewhere hugely public where not only does someone get hurt, but I end up exposing us all. I worry that when we're in the field, I'm going to lead the team into a bad situation, one that we can't get ourselves out of."

"Ah bet it's hard, bein' the leader an' everythin'," she said, now studying her black boots. "Ya don't just have yourself ta worry about." She looked up sharply. "Ah'm sorry, Ah'm probably just makin' ya feel worse, ain't Ah."

Her words weren't the most comforting, admittedly, but he shook his head. "No, it's okay."

She stared at him for a second, probingly, then laughed humorlessly. "It's hard ta read ya sometimes, Summers. Those shades give nothin' away."

"The permanent poker face," he retorted playfully, and grinned when he got a laugh out of her.

"Enough about me," Scott said, leaning forward eagerly. "What about you, Rogue? You're probably one of the most powerful mutants on Earth."

Rogue's eyes widened. "Ah doubt that."

"Oh, come on. Everyone else's power is your power. That's pretty intense."

"It's not all fun an' games," she insisted

"But you have better control over your powers than the rest of us," Scott said. "I mean, when you absorbed me...you _chose_ when you used my powers. You could turn them on and off. I can't do that." He really envied her that.

"Yeah, well, Ah can't turn mah own power on an' off, satisfied?" she said bitterly, and turned away from him once more. "Ah barely know what it's like ta be touched by someone else, an' Ah'm never gonna know what it's like ta kiss someone. What kinda life is that?"

"What kind of life is it where you never get to see the real color of someone's eyes?" he countered irritably, suddenly fueled into anger. "Even your own." He wasn't mad at her, though he was taking it out on her. More like, he was mad at himself for being unable to control it. Mad at the Professor for being unable to cure it. Mad at God for giving it to him. "We're all miserable about our the lives we've been given, Rogue, but you're the only one acting like a martyr."

Rogue looked horrified, but that was soon replaced by flames burning in her eyes. "So that's how ya really see me?" she said, the anger in her voice just barely covering up the hurt. "That Ah go around, actin' like a martyr? Well _excuse_ me, Summers. Ah look the way Ah do an' Ah act the way Ah do ta keep people away from me. For their own safety. Ah'm sorry if that's not _good_ enough for ya." She stood up and started to stalk off.

Immediately Scott felt remorseful, and he chased after her. "Rogue. Rogue, wait. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean it."

She kept moving forward, refusing to acknowledge that he was even speaking to her. Scott sighed. "Please, Rogue, just talk to me, okay? I'm really sorry, really I am. I was just angry. Not at you. Don't shut me out, would you? You mean a lot to me, a lot. You're the only one that took the time to try and understand me," he said plaintively, and he knew he was telling the truth. "I love that, Rogue. I need that. And I was hoping I was doing the same sort of thing for you."

Rogue finally stopped, just at the edge of the wooded area, but she only gazed out resolutely at the mansion below her. "Ya were," she admitted. "Ah like talkin' ta ya, Scott. Ya listen an' ya understand. Ah can talk ta Kitty, ya know, but Ah never do, 'cause Ah know no matter how hard she tries, she's just never gonna understand. But you..." She turned around and half-smiled at him, a sad yet hopeful look brimming in her eyes. "Ya get me, Scott Summers."

Scott felt such a connection to her right then, unlike anything he'd ever felt with anyone. Even connected psychically with Jean, he didn't feel so...known. Rogue _knew_ him. He didn't ever want to lose this feeling.

They were staring at each other for awhile, before whatever had been in Rogue's eyes seemed to dim, and he realized he'd yet to reply to her. "I'm supposed to say something here, aren't I," he said, and punctuated it with a nervous laugh, and a nervous hand-through-hair gesture.

"Ya could, Ah guess, but Ah think we've said all that can be said," Rogue said.

They stood there for awhile, not talking, not moving, glancing at each other only sporadically. Scott wanted to ask her things, wanted to start up some sort of conversation, but he didn't know what to say or how to say it. "Scott?" Rogue asked suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"This is gonna sound...well, it sounds kinda like somethin' Kitty would say, but Ah mean it...promise me we'll always be friends, okay?"

Scott wanted to smile at her, wanted to give her his assurances that they _would_ always be friends. But he couldn't. It wasn't that he didn't want to be, it wasn't that he thought they couldn't be. It was just that the way she said it, seemed like she doubted their relationship, like she thought it would only last for this day.

Scott had been entirely serious when he'd said Rogue meant a lot to him. Not just because she understood what he was going through, but because of the kind of person she was, the way she made him feel. He hated the fact that she seemed to think that he would just drop her again tomorrow morning, go back into that "hey, how're you doing, want some toast" sort of relationship they'd had previously. When Rogue had suggested this afternoon that they share the cookies in the library and have a chat, he'd agreed instantly. It wasn't because Jean wasn't there, it wasn't because he had nothing else to do, but it was because he honestly liked Rogue. She was complex, intriguing, even fun.

'Of course we'll always be friends.' She was staring at him expectantly, wanting to hear those words, but he wanted to give her something more. Something that was proof positive that he really believed they'd remain close, something that wasn't an empty promise.

Scott knew the consequences. He knew what would happen to him. He knew she'd probably even be mad. He didn't really care.

"I promise," he said, and he kissed her.


	4. What Kurt Saw

There was a knock at Kurt's door, and he'd barely had time to ask them in before Kitty phased through. "You won't _believe_ it," she said eagerly, plopping herself down on the bed.

"Vhat?" he asked, spinning around in his desk chair. Kitty was infinitely more entertaining than complex functions.

"Well, you know how Jean was supposed to help me with my homework, and she, like, totally disappeared? Well, _apparently_ Rogue and Scott were having a little heart-to-heart in the library, and Jean was totally listening in!" Kitty looked almost gleeful with this news.

It was a lot for Kurt to digest, however. "Vait. Rogue? And Scott?"

"Yeah."

"And Jean was eavesdropping?"

"Yeah!"

"You're kidding, right?"

"I am totally not kidding. Rogue told me everything. And then, Scott came by our room a little while ago, and he and Rogue took off."

"Vhere?"

"I dunno, for a walk or something. Jean's gonna go _ballistic_ when she finds out!"

"Vhy?" Kurt asked. "I mean, she's got Duncan, right?"

"Right, but you know she thinks she's got some kind of claim on Scott, too." Kitty stuck out her tongue. "I like Jean and all, but that's totally not fair. As far as I'm concerned, more power to Rogue."

"Vhat is that supposed to mean?" Kurt asked. "Does Rogue like Scott or something?"

"You are _such_ a _guy_," Kitty said, blowing strands of hair off her face in exasperation.

There was a rap at the door. "Come in," Kurt said, glaring at Kitty.

Jean's head poked through, and immediately Kitty was wearing a guilty expression, as to fully let Jean know that they'd been talking about her. Kurt wanted to kick Kitty, but he just looked at Jean. "Vhat?" he asked pleasantly.

It took Jean a moment to tear her eyes away from Kitty's face (Kitty, who was staunchly staring at Kurt's bedspread), but finally she looked to Kurt. "Uh...dinner," she said, suddenly remembering what she'd come for. "Dinner's in a few minutes. The Professor wanted me to get you."

"Ve'll be right down," Kurt assured her.

Jean attempted a smile, but left quickly.

"Keety!" Kurt admonished. "You could be a little nicer to Jean, you know."

"But I like, didn't do anything!" Kitty said.

Kurt rolled his eyes, sprung himself from his chair, landed neatly on the bed, took Kitty's hand, and in a cloud of smoke, teleported downstairs.

They ended up in the kitchen, where Evan and Ororo were taking plates into the dining room to set the table. "Need some help?" Kurt asked, and took a handful of silverware.

As the X-Men assembled in the dining room for dinner, Professor Xavier surveyed the table and noticed they were two team members short. "Has anyone seen Scott or Rogue?" he asked.

Kitty glanced at Kurt, even more quickly did her eyes dart to Jean, and she said, "They went off for a walk."

"Jean, could you scan the perimeter for them?" the Professor said.

"No!" Jean said, too quickly, and everyone turned to look at her. "I...uh...I mean...um...I could...could you do it, Professor? I'm sort of tired."

"Very well," Xavier answered, putting his fingers to his temples and closing his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked to Kurt. "They're out in the woods, up on the hill," he said. "Could you fetch them, Kurt?"

"Sure thing, Professor," Kurt said, and within a matter of seconds, he was positioned in a tree at the very edge of the woods, scanning the ground below him.

"Promise me we'll always be friends, okay?" he heard Rogue's Southern drawl.

Kurt had a feeling he should wait a second, and wondered if this was what happened to Jean, that she'd just ended up accidentally listening in. Jean didn't seem like the type to purposely eavesdrop. Either or, he leaned his head over to see around the branch. After a short pause, Scott stepped closer to Rogue and said, "I promise."

And then he kissed her.

Kurt nearly fell out of the tree. Fortunately, he'd secured his tail around the branch upon his arrival, and he straightened himself, still craning his neck to see what was going on.

The air around Scott and Rogue crackled somewhat, then Scott went pale. Had Kurt been able to see his eyes, he guessed he would have seen them rolling back in his head. He fell to the ground slowly, and Rogue's newly acquired optic blasts proceeded to flare straight through a tree. Kurt waited half a second, then teleported down to the ground.

"Rogue?" he said. "The Professor sent me to get you and Scott for dinner..." He trailed off when he saw Scott on the ground. "Vhat happened?" he said, deciding to feign ignorance. If Rogue didn't want to tell, she didn't have to.

Rogue turned to look at him, her eyes blazing red, but she blinked and shook her head slightly, and they were back to their normal hue. "Ah—" she said, but was cut off when the tree whose trunk she had sliced through started to topple.

"Timber!" Kurt yelped, bending and scooping up Scott in one arm, grabbing hold of Rogue with his free hand, and teleporting back to the mansion.

He collapsed in the doorway to the dining room, Scott being pure dead weight, and considerably heavy. Rogue, looking disoriented, leaned against the doorframe, while Kurt dropped to the floor, his arm around Scott's waist.

The able-bodied at the table all jumped to their feet when they saw the arrival. "What happened here?" Ororo asked. Rogue helped Kurt to his feet, and Logan picked up the unconscious Scott.

"It was mah fault," Rogue said hurriedly, though she looked a bit stunned. "Scott accidentally...he touched me...an'...Ah knocked down a tree, Professor, sorry..."

"I'll take him down to the Med Bay," Logan said gruffly, and left before anyone could protest that Scott should wake up soon.

"You absorbed Scott's powers?" the Professor said.

"Yeah, an' Ah sliced through a tree before Ah could control it," she said, looking at the ground sheepishly. "Ah'll clean it up later."

"Don't worry about it," he answered. "How do you feel, Rogue, okay?"

She glanced off in the direction where Logan had carried Scott, then glanced at Jean, then finally stared at the floor. "Yeah. Ah'm okay."

"Do you want to go lie down?"

"No..." she looked up sharply at Jean again. "Then again, Ah am kinda tired. Not from absorbin' Scott or nothin', just tired. Save me some chicken, Ah'll reheat it later or somethin'."

"Okay," the Professor said, and as Rogue turned away, the Professor, Evan, Ororo and Jean returned to the table. Kurt, however, watched Rogue go, and after a moment, became aware of Kitty standing behind him.

"What, like, happened out there?" Kitty said in a low voice.

"I'll—" Kurt began, then changed his mind. He shook his head and smiled at Kitty in a disarmingly jovial way. "Nothing, I suppose. I don't know. Vhen I got there, Scott was down, and I only barely got them out of the vay of that falling tree."

"But, like, Rogue's gloves were on just now," Kitty said, frowning.

"I'm not a mind-reader, Keety," Kurt said. "That's Jean and the Prof, remember? Let's eat. I'm starving." Still keeping up the cheerfully clueless routine, he took his usual seat at the table and began to dig into his plate.

He figured that if Rogue was going to make up a story, then that meant she wanted to keep it secret, and Kurt saw no reason why he should reveal the truth. He wasn't totally sure what had happened in the woods leading up to what he'd seen, but he knew that no matter what had happened, someone was going to get hurt. Jean, Scott, Rogue...he didn't want any of them to be hurt, but Rogue least of all. They'd all been through a lot, they'd go through a lot more, but Rogue had been through the most, and wasn't as resilient as either Scott or Jean.

Throughout dinner, he was aware of both Kitty and Jean staring at him, but he pretended like he didn't notice, and the second dinner was over, he teleported to his room.

A few minutes later, someone knocked at the door. "I'm busy," he called out, turning the page in his math book, not really wanting to answer any questions.

Kitty phased through the wall. Kurt jumped. "Jeez, Keety, I could have been naked or something!" he yelped.

Kitty reached over and slammed his book shut. "I want answers, and I want them now. What happened out there?"

"I told you, I don't know," he said. "Vhen I got there, Scott was already out cold."

Her eyes narrowed. "I don't believe you."

"Believe vhat you vant to believe, I'm just telling you vhat I saw," he said resolutely. He paused. "Vhy don't you go bother Rogue?"

Kitty stuck out her tongue. "She's already gone to bed."

"Lucky her," Kurt said, and Kitty groaned loudly, phasing through the floor.

Kurt glanced at his math book; he still had a few problems left to do. But he knew he wasn't really going to be able to concentrate. So he just went to bed instead. Avoidance was working for Rogue, why not him?


	5. What Kitty Learned

Kitty landed neatly in the bathroom she shared with Rogue, and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Why wasn't anyone telling her anything? It was obvious that something had gone down in the woods, and Kurt knew something about it. The only reason they could have for keeping it secret would be if...

"Ohmygosh," Kitty gasped, clamping a hand to her mouth. "No way!"

Of _course_. The only reason anyone could have for keeping this secret would be if Rogue and Scott had kissed.

But that was so unlike either of them. Rogue wouldn't even admit she had a crush on Scott, and while she didn't like the Jean, the girl held some respect for her, and wouldn't go behind her back like that. Unless of course she felt betrayed by Jean's earlier bout of rude behavior, and wanted revenge. Even so, that wasn't like Rogue. She would glare and she would mutter, but she wouldn't enact revenge, especially not if it meant hurting someone. Kitty knew how much Rogue was afraid of her power, how afraid she was of hurting others with it. She also knew, no matter how much Rogue denied it, that Rogue cared for Scott and he was probably the last one she wanted to hurt.

The only other possibility that left was that Scott kissed Rogue. Which was even less likely. Because everyone knew Scott was crushing on Jean.

So what _had_ happened?

Kitty phased through the bathroom fixtures and the wall into the hallway, so as not to disturb Rogue. Her surly roommate would keep whatever secret she had under lock and key, and would be even less likely to reveal it if Kitty woke her up. Scott, on the other hand, could be manipulated. She got into the elevator and rode down to the Med Bay.

Logan was just coming out of the observation room when the elevator doors opened. "What're you doin' down here, Half Pint," he said in that rough voice of his.

"Oh, you know, just, like, checking on Scott," she said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other in nervousness.

Logan raised an eyebrow. "No, really."

Kitty sighed. "Okay, so you know there must have been some crazy stuff going on in the woods," she said. "It was an accident? Rogue _never_ has accidents. She's way too careful."

"Yeah, the whole story stinks," he admitted.

"So what do you think really happened?" Kitty said eagerly.

"And what business is it of _yours_?" he countered.

"Well, Rogue's my roommate. I'm just worried, is all."

"More like gossip-hungry," he said gruffly. "Get outta here and let Summers sleep it off, Half Pint. If they want ya to know, they'll tell ya."

"This is like, totally unfair," Kitty said, but he pushed her gently back onto the elevator.

"Get over it," he answered, pushing the button for her.

Kitty grumbled to herself for the whole ride up, but was cut short mid-rant when the doors opened on the main floor to reveal Jean walking by. The telepath looked up sharply. "Oh, hey, Kitty."

"Hi, Jean."

Jean looked from her to the closing elevator doors. "In the Danger Room this late?" she asked.

"Um...yeah," Kitty said quickly, stopping herself just short of grimacing. She was an awful liar, and she knew it. But it wasn't like she could tell Jean why she'd really been down in the sub-basements. She fell in step beside the senior. "So, like, what's up?" she said, trying to sound breezy.

Jean looked at her curiously, but shook it off. "Not much. The usual. You know. School, training, stuff like that."

"I hear you," Kitty said. "How's Duncan?"

Was it her imagination, or did Jean stiffen? "He's fine."

"Oh. That's good."

"Is there something wrong, Kitty?"

Oh, great. Jean was seeing right through her. Of course, she was the mind-reader. "No, nothing. Nothing at all."

Jean sighed. "Rogue told you, didn't she."

"Told me what?" Kitty said innocently, except that her voice was just a little too high, and her laugh was just a little too forced. She blushed. "Okay, yeah, she told me."

Kitty couldn't quite read the expression in Jean's eyes. "Listen, Kitty...whatever Rogue said, and I'm not trying to discredit her or anything, what she said _was_ the truth...only, you've got to understand, it was an accident. Really. I was just passing by and..." she trailed off in frustration.

Kitty nodded, but didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure who she should side with. She liked Jean a lot, really respected her. As an older girl, as a leader, as an X-Man, as a friend. But the same held true for Rogue. And while Jean was a nice person, she never went out of the way to make Kitty feel _that_ welcome. The age difference was clearly a factor in this.

Rogue was older, too, but Rogue actually made it seem like Kitty was her best friend. And Kitty considered the antisocial girl to be _her_ best friend. They didn't have those big heart-to-hearts like girls did on TV or whatever, but they talked, and they trusted each other. Kitty and Kurt had been trying for ages to get Rogue to open up more, and it looked like it was finally happening.

And while Kitty honestly believed that Jean didn't mean to listen in, she knew she had to side with Rogue if she wanted their relationship to more forward like it was currently doing.

"I know," she said, deciding that was a nice, safe answer. She also knew it wouldn't completely satisfy Jean, so she added carefully, "You're not a vindictive sort of person."

The second the words left her mouth she realized they'd been the wrong ones. "Vindictive? What reason would I have to be vindictive?" Jean asked.

"Um..." Kitty's eyes flicked around, looking for a quick exit, but none was to be seen. "I..."

"There _is_ something going on between Rogue and Scott, isn't there," Jean realized.

"I don't know," Kitty said hastily, and it was the truth. She had suspicions (which she wasn't about to share with Jean), but she had no proof of anything. Not as long as both people in question were still sleeping.

Jean sighed. "I don't know why Rogue is doing this to me," she said. "I don't know what I ever did to her to make her not like me."

Kitty stopped dead in the middle of the hallway. "Wait...you, like, think Rogue is trying to develop some kind of relationship with Scott out of _revenge_? To _hurt_ you?"

Jean stared at her blankly.

"How totally egotistical of you," Kitty said, catching a glimpse of the Jean that Rogue didn't like. "Rogue doesn't do things out of _spite_, Jean. She has a heart, too. Just because she _can't_ be touched doesn't mean that she doesn't _want_ to be."

Annoyed beyond reason on Rogue's behalf, Kitty stormed off to her room. She phased through the door, though more than anything, she really wanted to slam it. But Rogue was sleeping.

No, she wasn't. As Kitty passed through the oak, she saw Rogue up and awake, sitting on the window seat, staring out at the night. "Oh, you're awake," Kitty said, then promptly turned around, opened the door, and slammed it as hard and noisily as she could.

Rogue jolted. "Jeez, Kitty, what's with ya?"

"You would not _believe_ what Little Miss Perfect just accused you of."

Rogue looked bemused. "Jean..?"

"The one and only. Jean 'Look At Me, Aren't I Fabulous?' Grey."

"But Kitty...Ah thought ya liked Jean."

"Not anymore I don't!" Kitty insisted, throwing herself onto her mattress. She propped her head up on one arm, and gestured elaborately with the other. "I just ran into the Queen of Bayville High in the hallway, and she totally said that you were only friends with Scott because you hated _her_!"

Rogue stood up. "_What_?"

"You heard it here first."

"That's so not true."

"I know!"

"Where does she get off sayin' that? _He_ kissed _me_!"

Kitty gasped and proceeded to slip, phasing halfway through her comforter, which was both uncomfortable-looking and uncomfortable. "WHAT!" she shrieked, pulling herself out, and Rogue looked mortified.

"Ah didn't just say that, did Ah?"

"Spill, girl!" Kitty said excitedly, gripping onto both of Rogue's arms.

"It's not what ya think."

"It so totally is. Scott Summers kissed you?"

"Um...yeah. In...in the woods."

"Why?"

"Ah dunno. He's still kinda comatose."

"Well you know what this means, don't you?" Kitty said, finally letting go of her roommate and bouncing around a little bit. Rogue shook her head, but Kitty was too elated to be annoyed by Rogue's ignorance. "It means he _likes_ you, duh!"

"But ya said that he's all in love with Jean," Rogue said, looking more sad than confused.

"Well, maybe I was wrong. Scott's not your average guy, I was probably just, like, reading him wrong."

A gentle, wistful smile lit Rogue's face, and she looked down at her gloved hands. "The permanent poker face," she said.

"What?" Kitty said. That made no sense. Well, no, it _did_ make sense, sort of, just not in context.

Rogue shook her head. "Nothing."

"Oh my _gosh_, you totally have to go and find him and talk to him now," Kitty said.

"Well for that, he's gotta wake up first."


	6. Jean's Evening

Jean locked the door to her room. They weren't supposed to lock doors in the mansion, just in case of emergency, but she wanted some privacy. Not that a little thing like a lock would matter if Kurt or Kitty was looking for her.

Of course, Kitty Pryde wouldn't be looking for her anytime soon. The way she'd stormed off, Jean was pretty sure the freshman hated her. And all because of Rogue. Did the girl realize how many good friends she really had here? Kurt and Kitty would probably do anything for her.

And Scott...

Jean shook her head, refusing to acknowledge the thought. "If I go to bed, I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning, and none of this will have happened," she said decisively, staring at her pillow.

Okay, now she was talking to herself. The first sign of crazy. The second sign, of course, was hearing voices, which she already did.

Maybe all mutants were crazy. Maybe carrying an x-gene disabled you from ever being normal, physically, mentally, emotionally...

She was avoiding the real issue. She truly hadn't meant to listen in on Scott and Rogue's conversation. She'd happened across it accidentally. Admittedly, though, she'd been drawn in, and though she knew it was wrong, she had continued to listen. So she _was_ as guilty as they all thought. Who was they? Scott and Rogue of course, and Kitty, and if Kitty knew, then most likely, Kurt knew. None of the aforementioned were close with Evan to tell him, and she knew perfectly well that while they probably all thought she was despicable, they would revert to the unspoken code, and not tell Storm, Logan, or the Professor.

So, she'd listened in. That was the truth.

But that wasn't the only thing she felt bad about. She hated the fact —_hated_— that Scott was confiding in Rogue, of all people. That the antisocial Goth girl was asking _Jean's_ longtime friend hard-hitting, emotionally probing questions that Jean had never even dreamed of asking.

What did that mean, exactly? That Jean liked Scott?

It would make sense, really, her liking Scott. They'd known each other forever, and he knew her better than anyone ever had or ever would. She could tell him anything. He was a good leader, he was smart, he was strong, he was cute, and he had been known on an occasion or two to be funny. Plus, he wasn't half as dense as her current boyfriend, Duncan Matthews.

"Duncan," Jean muttered. "See? I _can't_ like Scott, because I already _have_ a boyfriend."

Although, she knew that wasn't true at all. But it was better than admitting that she had a crush on one of her closest friends.

What was it Kitty had said? 'She has a heart, too. Just because she _can't_ be touched doesn't mean that she doesn't _want_ to be.'

That could only mean one thing. That Rogue liked Scott. Rogue, who was clearly more available than Jean. Jean knew she was pretty. In that traditional way, the quiet, preppy girl, good in school, good at sports, lots of friends, cute jock boyfriend. But Rogue was beautiful in this way that Jean could never achieve. She was dark, mysterious. She wore lots of makeup, but it didn't hurt her appearance. She wore lots of layers, but managed to do so in a very sexy way. She had those distinct white streaks of hair. Jean could see why Scott would be attracted to her.

Then again, Jean didn't _know_ that Scott was attracted to her. There was the easiest way to find out, a little probing of the mind. He'd never know.

But she'd sworn just that evening that she'd never use her powers outside of battle again.

Ever.

So there was only one solution to this, she had to go talk to Scott. But would he talk to her?

Jean stepped off the elevator into one of the sub-basements, and stopped in front of the big glass windows looking into the Med Bay. Logan, Storm, or the Professor were nowhere around. Thank God, she couldn't help but thinking, because that way she didn't have to try and come up with an excuse. Nothing seemed good enough. She was worried about Scott? It's not like this wasn't the first time Rogue had absorbed him.

She passed through the doors, and as they shut themselves with a swishing sound, Scott's head lifted slightly. He was wearing his sunglasses as usual, so she could only assume his eyes were open. "Jean," he said flatly.

"Hi," she answered, taking a seat, but in the chair farthest from the bed and closest to the door, just in case. "How're you feeling?"

"Pretty good, all things considered. How'd I get here? Rogue didn't carry me, did she?"

Jean shook her head. "No, Kurt went out looking for you guys for dinner, and he teleported you back to the mansion. Logan took you downstairs."

"How's Rogue?" Scott asked, settling his head against the pillow.

"She begged off dinner, said she was tired," Jean said. She was getting a tad annoyed that his every statement included Rogue's name in it.

"But she's okay?"

"Yeah."

"That's good."

They paused for a second. Scott was being short with her, he was probably still mad at her about that afternoon. Still, she had to ask. She'd come down here to ask. "What happened out there, Scott?"

His eyes gave nothing away, they never did, she'd never even seen them. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Rogue said it was an accident. But you know as well as I do that Rogue just doesn't _have_ accidents. She can't fully control her powers —none of us can," she added pointedly, "—but she's careful. All the time."

"I don't really think it's any business of yours, Jean, what Rogue and I did or did not do."

"I _told_ you that what happened earlier was an accident."

"Accident or not..." Scott said, but seemed unwilling to finish that statement.

"Well, do you blame me for not turning away?" Jean said heatedly. The rational part of her brain was telling her to let it go, to accept his and Rogue's anger, to wait it out. But she couldn't let it go. "I mean, I've known you for years, you've only known Rogue a few months, and you have the big, deep conversations with _her_. What does that say about us, about our friendship? That it means nothing to you?"

"You don't understand," Scott said, in an irrationally calm voice. Of course, Scott Summers was unusually level-headed for someone his age. Only people like Lance Alvers and the Brotherhood really irked him, provoked him to almost-rage.

"I would if you'd let me," she said.

"You don't understand _me_," he elaborated. "You have control."

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do. You can turn it on or off. I'm always going to have to wear these glasses, Rogue's always going to have to wear gloves."

"Scott, I—"

"And that's not the end of it. You and I are from completely different worlds. You come from a happy home, Jean, you have a place to go at Christmas."

"So that's what this is about?" Jean said bitterly. "Neither you or Rogue have a real family, so that gives you the right to exclude me?"

"Who died and made you queen of the institute?" Scott retorted, irritation finally lacing his voice. "We're not purposefully excluding you. It's just that it's not the sort of thing you'd include yourself in."

"So I have to have my parents die, is that it? I have to be an orphan, or betrayed by Mystique to be your friend?"

He turned his head away from her, a silence falling over them unlike anything else, and Jean knew she'd taken it a step too far. It was too late now to take it back, however. "That was low, even for you." He sighed. "Just go, please."

"Scott—"

"Just go."

There were a million things Jean wanted to say. Starting with an apology for being completely out of line. She didn't say those things. She barely _thought_ those things. She wasn't a bad person, honest. She was just a mutant like the rest of them. Just scared and confused like the rest of them.

She tossed Scott a sorrowful look, which he pointedly ignored, and left.

As the doors to both the Med Bay and the elevator hissed shut behind her, Jean bowed her head, her chin touching her chest, and allowed a few moments to feel sorry for herself.


	7. Rogue's Night

"Well, you only touched him for so long," Kitty rationalized, "so he's probably, like, awake by now. Go check on him."

"Ah can't do that," Rogue said. The very last thing she wanted was to go and face Scott. She had no idea what to say to him.

"Look, Rogue, you have two choices. You go down now, or you wait until tomorrow morning to see him, when you're crammed in a car with me and Kurt and Jean. _Jean_," she added pointedly. "Either way, you're going to have to face him eventually. Might as well be now."

"But—" Rogue started to say, but Kitty gave her a gentle shove out the door.

As Rogue stood in the hallway, attempting to process, she heard the click of the lock behind her. They weren't supposed to lock doors in the mansion, and didn't really need to, considering they all followed the basic privacy rules, but they were there just in case. And apparently Kitty was going to abuse their existence, and keep Rogue locked out until she went to talk to Scott.

Rogue weighed her options. She could just wait in the hall for about half an hour, and then knock and Kitty would let her in. But Kitty could check up on her at any time, and if she saw that Rogue was refusing to be manipulated, she might just never let her back in. Besides, someone could come through the hallway at any time, and ask what Rogue was doing there, and even if she made up some sort of excuse, they'd somehow figure out that it was about her and Scott.

So really, she had no choice but to go and find the one called Cyclops. With any luck, he was already awake, and back in his room, so he wouldn't be there, and she could go back to her room with a good excuse.

"Really, now, are ya ever gonna face the boy?" she asked herself, setting off down the hallway. It's not like Scott Summers was particularly scary or anything. So why was she being a spaz about this whole thing?

Rogue pressed the button for the sub-basement elevator, and shifted her weight back and forth, humming off-key as she waited. Finally the doors opened, but they did so to reveal Jean Grey, leaning against the back wall of the car, arms crossed over chest, head down, red hair in a waterfall blocking her face. She looked quite sad.

But Rogue wasn't supposed to feel sorry for Jean. Ever. The girl had plenty of hero-worshipping cronies to do it, she didn't need Rogue.

Jean looked up, and an unreadable look flitted over her face for a fraction of a second.

"Oh, it's you," Rogue said dully, surprised to hear Jean's voice echo her own, with the same words.

"Not mah biggest fan, Ah see," Rogue said, forcing herself to be as nonchalant as possible as she and Jean crossed paths between the elevator doors.

Jean sighed. "Listen, Rogue, I know you and I don't get along, but I wanted to let you know that I really, _really_ am sorry for what happened this afternoon. I should have walked away. But I didn't. I was wrong, and I'm sorry, and I know there's no real way I can make it up to you, and it's going to be hard to get your trust back ever, if at all, but..." She sighed again, and looked around the hall, as if the walls and tables might provide her with the words she couldn't find for herself. "I'm really sorry, is all."

Rogue, for once, didn't know what to say. Heartfelt apologies weren't in her repertoire, and even less frequently were they issued at her. And definitely not from a person like Jean. This whole conversation had one-in-a-million odds attached to it.

Then again, this whole _day_ had been something Guinness-worthy, if not front page news. Maybe she'd just wake up in the morning and have to do the whole day over again, because it had all been one weird, crazy dream. Wasn't that the sitcom standby?

"Uh...well..." she said, and was embarrassed that she was reduced to stammering in Miss Perfect's presence. Where was her biting wit, her cold looks, her harsh retorts? They seemed to be kept at bay by Jean's abysmal look, this deep sadness that just radiated from her. "Well, thanks, Ah guess. Ah...Ah gotta go."

She sidestepped the psychic, and opened the elevator doors.

"He was...he was asking about you..." Jean said lamely, and Rogue didn't dare turn around, didn't dare become speechless in the face of Jean's sadness. So _that_ was what this was about. Kitty had been right; Jean was _jealous_ of Rogue. Rogue didn't know what kind of game Jean was playing, but she expected it was something about knowing the enemy better than knowing yourself.

"Well, good for him," Rogue said, the trademark indifference returning to her tone. "See ya later."

Rogue was grateful for the silence of the elevator, it gave her time to think; but not nearly as much as she would have liked, when the doors opened facing the Med Bay. Scott was sitting up, getting the once over from Logan. Rogue waited in the elevator car, watching. Logan nodded, and Scott hopped from the table, striding out of the room. He seemed surprised to see Rogue in the elevator, and she quickly realized how obvious it was that she was waiting for him.

"Hi," he said, looking taken aback for a few seconds, before his stunned look faded into a smile.

A smile for her. Rogue felt a heat rushing through her, and she couldn't help smiling back, although she felt ridiculously embarrassed. "How're ya feelin'?"

"Same as usual," he said. "It's not like this hasn't happened before."

The doors shut, but neither of them made any move to push a button.

"Um...Ah'm really sorry," she said lamely. "About what happened."

"It's not your fault," Scott assured her quickly.

"Well, it kinda is. Ah'm the one with the poison skin," she said, making a face, "not you."

"I knew exactly what would happen," he said. "It wasn't an accident."

"Ah told everyone it was," she said, "Ah didn't say that ya...that ya..." She fumbled, not knowing how to finish the statement.

"That I kissed you," he said bluntly, and Rogue looked away sharply.

"Yeah," she mumbled. They lapsed into silence, and after awhile, Scott moved to push the first floor button. As she saw his hand extending out of the corner of her eye, Rogue was filled with a fierce desire to keep this conversation going, no matter how much she didn't want to address the topic ever again.

"Scott?" she said quickly, and his hand stopped. He turned to look at her. "Um...why didja do it? Why didja kiss me?"

"I'm not totally sure," he admitted.

"Oh." Not exactly the answer she'd been looking for. But then, what had she really expected him to say? 'I'm madly in love with you'? Like that would ever happen. Maybe in one of Kitty's cheesy romance novels, but this was the real world, the real world where Rogue had to wear gloves constantly and avoid contact with other people, where her roommate could make herself intangible and phase through anything, where the boy she secretly had a crush on wore sunglasses made out of ruby quartz, because that was the only material that stopped his laser eyes from destroying everything he looked at. The real world, where the person who took you in turned out to be the last person you could trust, and where relationships were several rungs lower than secrecy and survival.

"But I don't regret it," he said softly.

Rogue opened her mouth, not sure what she was going to say, but knowing she had to say something...but the elevator doors swished open, and Logan stepped on. "You actually gonna use this thing, Shades, or just sit here all night?" he said gruffly, punching the first floor button with the first knuckle of his fist. Without turning around, he added, "Hey there, Stripes."

"Hi, Logan," she said, staring at his back. Another moment ruined by another of the X-Men. Rogue wasn't going to hold it against Logan, though, not like she was holding it against Jean. He hadn't known he'd been interrupting an important conversation.

They made the short trip in silence, and set off their separate ways to their rooms. Logan slept on the first floor, the students' rooms were on the second. As the high schoolers trudged up the staircase, Logan called after them, "Listen, Stripes, keep it in check, would ya?"

Their backs still to the front hall, and to Logan, both Rogue and Scott flushed. There was no way of telling if he actually knew what had transpired in the woods, and even if he did, he wouldn't say anything. Not to the Professor, or Jean, or either of them. Still, it was embarrassing.

Rogue didn't answer, but she didn't think Logan had expected her to. In turn, she didn't say much to Scott either, they issued mumbled good nights to each other, and went off to their respective rooms.

Rogue knocked on her door; Kitty opened it without question. "You talk to him?" she asked eagerly, sitting cross-legged on her bed.

"Yeah," Rogue said glumly, quickly changing into her pajamas and sliding under the covers.

"_And_?" Kitty said.

"An' nothin'," Rogue said. "G'night." She stretched out a bare hand, and clicked off the light.

As she retreated her arm back under the warmth of the covers (although it really wasn't that cold), she took pause to admire the moonlight illuminating her pale, exposed skin. Poison skin, like she'd told Scott. Skin that would never know the feeling of Scott's skin against it, nor anyone else's, ever. A life sentence for a crime that Rogue hadn't committed. Maybe in a past life...

Hazy images flashed in her mind, maybe scenes from that past life...no, scenes from someone else's past. Kitty or Kurt...or Jean...or Mystique...one of the Brotherhood, maybe...Scott...

Rogue drifted peacefully into unconsciousness.

She dreamt in shades of red.


	8. Scott's Morning

Scott had tossed and turned most of the night, and his thoughts had been muddled enough when he'd gone to bed that he'd completely forgotten to set his alarm. Now he awoke to the bright glare of sunlight reflecting off of his mirror. He squinted, allowing the blurry shapes time to make their lines clear, then looked over at the clock...

...and nearly jumped out of bed. "Late!" he yelped frantically, clamoring out from under the covers and dashing into the bathroom, where he undressed and hopped into the shower. "Late late late!" He turned on the water, and with a sudden burst of sound and steam, he was pierced by needles of near-boiling water. "Hot hot hot!" he said, and adjusted the knob so that the water was a little more forgiving to his skin. When he finally got done with his shower, his body was raw from the combination of rapid scrubbing and scalding temperatures. His skin was lobster-red, like he'd been in the sun too long. (But then again, wasn't his skin _always_ red when he looked at it?)

He brushed his teeth and got dressed, then darted down the hall and banged on respective doors. "Evan! Kurt! Jean! Kitty, Rogue! C'mon! We're late!"

Kitty's head popped blearily through the wooden paneling of the door. "Say what?"

"We've got about twenty minutes before the first bell rings," he informed her, and the freshman became more alert. "On it!" she said, disappearing behind the door once more. "C'mon guys, let's go!" Scott yelled to the hall, then returned to his room to throw his books in his bag. When he emerged again, Evan was just coming out of his room, clipping his helmet clasp shut with one hand, gripping his skateboard and backpack with the other. "Gotta catch some air, see you at school!" he said, dashing down the stairs. Before Scott could issue the 'no boarding in the institute' rule for what seemed like the millionth time, he heard the thump of Evan's skateboard in the front hall, and the rush of wheels as the guy sped outside.

Scott banged again once more on the three remaining doors, then went downstairs to try and scavenge for breakfast. He was surprised enough to freeze for a second as he saw Jean sitting at the table, calmly sipping tea from a mug. "You're up," he observed.

"So are you, finally," she answered.

They were saved from awkward conversation and more awkward silence by the bamf!-ing sound of imploding air as Kurt appeared in the kitchen, and as Kitty phased through the ceiling, holding Rogue. Kitty landed neatly on her feet, but Rogue was off-balance and went toppling instantly upon impact.

As she fell over, she fell straight into Scott's arms. It was a tipsy few seconds, as he tried to balance the heavy backpack that had fallen off one shoulder and now rested in the crook of his arm, and the unsteady weight of a teenage girl, who had a heavy bag of her own, but after a moment, they both straightened, reddening slightly. "Uh, hi," Scott said, painfully aware of _everyone's_ eyes on the two of them. Either they all knew, or they at least all suspected that something was going on between him and Rogue.

But there was zero time for relationship drama, seeing as how the second hand was rapidly ticking towards detention if they missed homeroom. Principal Darkholme, a.k.a. Mystique, was incredibly strict as an administrator to begin with, but she had no tolerance whatsoever for any of the residents of the Xavier Institute.

Kitty had phased her arm through the door of the fridge, and was pulling out a few juice boxes, which she tossed behind her. Her wayward aim caught Jean in the forehead, causing her to say "Ow!", and Kurt offered her a smile as he retrieved the fallen carton off the floor. Scott plucked two juice boxes out of the air, and passed one to Rogue. Kurt grabbed a few apples out of the fruit bowl on the counter, and tossed one to Scott, one to Kitty, who emerged from the fridge, and offered one to Rogue, who declined with a shake of her head.

"Okay, let's go," Scott said, and five teenagers hurried down to the garage, where Scott hopped over the door into the front seat, Kitty phased into the back. Kurt had teleported from the kitchen into the middle seat, and Jean moved to open the door and take her usual place in shotgun. But she glanced at Scott and quickly glanced away, moving to sit in the backseat. It came to a surprise more to Scott and Rogue than anyone in the backseat that Rogue took Jean's usual place.

They split up the second the engine died. Kitty was a freshman; Kurt, Rogue, and Evan (who was now boarding up to the school's front steps) were sophomores, and Scott and Jean were seniors. They shared basic classes, like history and math, with others in their respective grades, and might have shared different electives with different members of the team. As far as Scott knew, however, only Rogue and Kurt shared a homeroom. For once, though, he was glad he didn't have homeroom with Jean.

He was still supremely upset about what she had said to him last night; it played through his mind like a broken record. 'That's what this is about? Neither you or Rogue have a real family, so that gives you the right to exclude me? So I have to have my parents die, is that it? I have to be an orphan, or betrayed by Mystique to be your friend?'

Scott had never thought that Jean was capable of saying something so low. Of any of them, Rogue was the only one with real bite, but even she, with her Gothic dress and bitter, 'doesn't-the-world-suck' attitude would never say something so heartless and callous.

And Rogue...as Scott filed into the school with everyone else, less than a minute before the bell, his mind skipped from his conversation with Jean to his conversation with Rogue. Which left him questioning why he _had_ kissed Rogue. It had seemed so simple at the time, as an expression of his newfound friendship with her...

But thinking about it now, what kind of excuse was that? It wasn't a friendly kiss. A friendly kiss would have been on the forehead or cheek, or maybe a peck on the lips. Something that lasted not even a second, something that with her powers would at worst had left him a little woozy, maybe unharmed entirely. But no. He'd held on for as long as he could before her powers got the better of him, and he collapsed.

What did any of this even _mean_? It was driving him nuts. He was supposed to like Jean, right? Had since he'd met her. Jean was perky, and preppy, and popular, and...well, basically, everything Rogue was not. The two girls were opposite sides of the spectrum, totally, and it boggled his mind, this whole Rogue-Jean situation.

What was the deal with Jean, anyway? When had she stopped becoming this perfect creature, and was instead this eavesdropping, insulting, catty person? Overnight, she'd somehow become just like all of those girls she hung out with.

Maybe he was just finally seeing her foibles. Mutant or not, she was just human, just like the rest of them. He should stop putting Jean Grey up on a pedestal.

And yet...

Scott sat in homeroom, trying to wrap his brain around this, having completely tuned out the morning announcements, and subsequently, the bell signaling he should go to first period. It wasn't until someone tapped him on the shoulder that he snapped out of his reverie, and looked up.

"Hey, Summers, that's my seat," Duncan Matthews said. "Shouldn't you be running off to class now, or something?"

Any other day, Scott would have glared, said something biting or derogatory, and been on his way, but all of a sudden he just wasn't in the mood for going toe-to-toe with Matthews. "Yeah, okay," he said, shouldering his backpack once more and heading into the hallway without so much as a backward glance for his rival.

The bell rang, and judging by the sudden lack of kids in the hall, it was the second bell. This morning was not getting off to a good start. To make matters worse, his first period class was on the opposite side of the school. And it was one he shared with Jean. With a sigh, Scott started to class in more of an amble than anything else, just feeling completely drained, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

"Would ya knock it off?" a voice nearby said. A very familiar voice. "Ah'm tryin' ta get ta class."

"Y'know, I always thought there was something weird about this girl," another voice, a male one, said. "She's such a freak...bet she's a mutant."

"Wanna find out?" he heard Rogue growl, and Scott darted around the corner quickly, hoping that Rogue wouldn't do anything stupid. It wasn't her style, no, but if you were feeling threatened, you could do anything...

Rogue had her back to the row of lockers, though with a good foot between skin and metal, giving her some sort of edge, enough room for escape or fight, if it should come to either of those. It was cut-and-dry evidence of Danger Room training, and Scott felt an odd surge of pride. She was staring down two big bulky guys, a little too thick to be any of Matthews' cronies, yet too much thug and not enough misfit to have anything to do with the Brotherhood. Scott didn't know the two, but his best bet was that they were the human equivalent of Alvers and his cronies. They stood at least a good foot taller than Rogue, and were leering at her in a way that made his blood boil.

"Hear that?" the taller of the two said, smirking at his friend. "She's threatening us."

"Listen, girlie, we don't want no one to get hurt or nothin'," the friend drawled. "Just give us a little kiss, and we'll be on our way."

"How about this?" Scott said, stepping up. "You get on your way anyway, and leave her alone."

The two goons sized him up, and although they were bigger than him, there was something about Scott that apparently scared them off. The taller of the two huffed, "Yeah, okay, whatever, dude. We'll leave your little girlfriend alone." As they trudged away, Scott thought he heard one of them mutter something about "freaking muties," and he was glad that things had gone the way they had. Clearly, it could have been worse.

"Ah _shoulda_ kissed 'em," Rogue snarled at their retreating backs. "Woulda served 'em right." She then whirled around to face Scott. "An' _you_! Ah coulda handled that mahself, Summers, Ah didn't need you ta come in and play knight in shinin' armor." Scott blanched; he never knew how Rogue would react to things, although he suspected he should have predicted her being angry. But not this angry...she hadn't called him Summers since she'd joined the team.

"I know you could have," he said contritely. "And I'm sorry I stepped in, it wasn't my business to. But you were risking exposure, Rogue."

"Ah'll..." she began, but trailed off as she took in the emptiness of the halls. "We're all alone."

Scott looked around, and he fully appreciated how dead the hallways of Bayville High were between classes. With a deep breath, he decided there was no time like the present to talk about what they'd been talking about the night before. He opened his mouth, about to form the words.

"Hey, vhat are you guys doing here?" came the familiar voice of Kurt.


End file.
